Some bureaucrats more powerful than advisers: Iftekharuzzaman

Bangla Press Desk:   Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman has said that a section of the bureaucracy is more influential than the interim government’s advisory council.

“The advisory council does not effectively decide which documents it signs or which decisions it takes, as those choices are instead made by a group of extremely powerful individuals within the bureaucracy,” Iftekharuzzaman said while responding to questions from reporters at a press conference held at TIB’s office in the capital on Monday. At the press conference, TIB also presented a report titled “Resistance to Reform in the Drafting of Interim Government Ordinances.” 

The organisation said that during the interim government period, almost all ordinances — with a few exceptions — yielded to the obstructive influence of powerful bureaucratic sections, thereby undermining reform efforts.

Referring to his long observation of government activities, Iftekharuzzaman said he understood that the influential section of the bureaucracy determines which elements a decision will include and which it will not. In this case, not only their group interests but also political interests are reflected.

In the TIB presentation, Iftekharuzzaman outlined both the positive and negative aspects of the ordinances issued during the interim government.

“Apart from a few minor exceptions, the ordinances were drafted unilaterally without meaningful consultation with stakeholders. In some cases, draft ordinances were briefly uploaded to government websites merely as a formality to deflect responsibility,” he added. According to him, although some stakeholders managed to provide input despite facing obstacles and even hostility, their proposed reforms were later ignored without any explanation.

In certain instances, the government also engaged in propaganda against specific stakeholders, he alleged.

The TIB executive director said that the ordinances on the Anti-Corruption Commission, Police Commission, National Human Rights Commission, cyber security, personal data protection, and national data management allowed the bureaucracy and those in power to retain unchecked and unaccountable authority over matters of national interest.

BP/TD